Take Annual College Rankings With A Sack Of Salt

Congratulations are due all of the Connecticut institutions of higher learning that did well on a test many would rather skip: The U.S. News & World Report college rankings.

With the rankings, though, come the critics, and they have a point: Such measures as reputation are too subjective to be meaningful, and the magazine tinkers with the metrics, so there's no precision to them. Nevertheless, what tuition-paying parent can resist looking?

UConn worked its way back to No. 19 among national public universities from 21 last year. Yale is No. 3 among private universities; Wesleyan and Trinity ranked 17 and 36, respectively, among liberal arts colleges. Fairfield reached No. 3, Quinnipiac 11 and Sacred Heart 33 among regional northern universities, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy was second best in northern regional colleges. Great job, all.

Nevertheless, for prospective students, factors other than U.S. News' ranking figure in their choices, including affordability, size, location and courses. For a cello player, the Juilliard School — which isn't even ranked by U.S. News — might be a better choice than anything on the list.

Among the critics, CBS News' MoneyWatch offered reasons why the U.S. News rankings shouldn't be students' only consideration, including:

•A major concern of students today is finding a job once they graduate. Yet post-college employment isn't considered by U.S. News.

•The rankings do take into consideration fancy new buildings and other facilities, leading some colleges to overbuild — and pass the costs on to students.

Some schools rightly downplay the worth of the list. A Trinity spokeswoman noted that "it comes down to which college or university is the best fit for an individual student." Wesleyan simply said, "We don't comment on any rankings" — a wise policy.

We hope that our colleges live up to their official pronouncements on rankings, and don't let the U.S. News tail wag the school dog. Rankings aren't everything.

Editor's note, Sept. 19, 2013: In measuring average spending per student as part of its ranking process, U.S. News & World Report does not factor in the cost of sports facilities or dormitories. This editorial was not clear about which facilities are included in those calculations.